


Sandcastle

by malec_hun (orsoly_writes)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec's POV, Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - Human, Charlie is said dog, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, I wrote this because I'm dealing with writers' block, It's a little something, M/M, Magnus' POV, One Shot, Uncle Alec Lightwood, magnus has a dog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 19:45:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16102541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orsoly_writes/pseuds/malec_hun
Summary: AU — Magnus is walking on the beach with his dog when the animal decides to run across a certain sandcastle which has been made for hours by a tall, dark and handsome guy and his sister’s daughter, ruining it entirely.





	Sandcastle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello you there! 
> 
> This happened, I have no idea how but since I'm dealing with a massive writers' block and having hard time to be back to writing, I just really hope continuing this story will help. Don't think to much into it, I don't know how I came up with this plot but yeah, it happened. 
> 
> Comments, Kudos, tweets are appreciated mostly in this hard time. ;)  
> Use the hashtag #malec_hun if you live tweet or find me on Twitter [Tweet to @malec_hun](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?screen_name=malec_hun&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> Kisses and Hugs,   
> Orsi

It was one of those days in the middle of the summer that was hotter than hell itself and there were only two ways to handle it... either lying on the couch with the AC on or lying on the beach with your legs knee-deep in the water.    
  


Since Izzy had decided that that day was perfect to clean up the entire house, Alec and his favorite—and only—niece had chosen the latter, which was how Alec and four-year-old Chloe had ended up on the beach.    
  


His sister and her family had moved to a house near the sea for the whole summer so when Alec started his holiday, the first thing he did was to get out of New York and spend a couple of days there.    
  


Chloe and Alec had been building a sandcastle for God knew how long now. It was big, with towers of different heights, decorated with shells all around. And to say that Alec was proud of their work was an understatement.    
  


It was Wednesday and the beach wasn’t that crowded but he could hear some wows from the people who passed them by.    
  


Chloe filled the trench around the sandcastle with another bucket of water.   
  


“I think it’s gonna be good for now, Chloe,” Alec said and pulled his sunglasses from the top of his head to his eyes.    
  


“Just one more bucket, Uncle Alec,” the girl answered and Alec only nodded with a smile on his face. 

 

Who could say no to the cutest creature on the Earth?   
  


Alec searched for his phone in the huge bag Izzy had filled with all of the stuff Chloe and he needed—according to her, at least and it was always better to be prepared for every situation, Izzy’s words—to spend the day on the beach. 

 

He took some pictures of Chloe and the sandcastle and sent some of them to Izzy right away.    
  


Alec started to count in his head and it took exactly 57 seconds for Izzy to upload one of the photos to her Instagram page and tag Alec as well.    
  


Alec rolled his eyes when he realized that the photo was one of the selfies of him with Chloe, the sandcastle, and the beach in the background.

 

***

 

Magnus was bored. He still had two more days until his friends arrived at the beach house he had rented for the weekend to celebrate Catarina’s birthday.    
  
The owner of the house hadn’t let him rent it for the weekend only so since he had paid for the whole week he would have been stupid not to spend some time there.    
  
Charlie, his dog, was good company. However, for Magnus, a man who was always surrounded by people, being locked up in an empty house was torture.    
  
He took Charlie's leash from the hanger by the door and the dog was already by his feet from the sound of it, knowing that they were about to go for a walk.    
  
“Easy, boy,” Magnus said when the dog started jumping on his legs, making it more difficult to hook the leash on the dog’s collar, “Charlie, calm down!” Magnus smiled at the dog’s excitement. 

 

He took his keys and locked the house. They didn’t need to walk too long to reach the beach.    
  
The place wasn’t crowded and Charlie was a good dog. He didn’t misbehave and always obeyed his human so Magnus let him run free a little while he took a stroll on the beach.    
  


Magnus laughed as the dog ran into the water, then out and back again.    
  
He felt the breeze messing his hair and he patted himself mentally because he didn’t put any makeup or jewelry on, only his white swimming pants and his Ray Bans.    
  
He felt his skin getting hotter under the sun but it was bearable. He kept walking by the sea, following his dog.    
  
Charlie went into the water again and when he came out the dog froze in its place. Magnus knew this, trying to find the object of the dog’s attention. Then he heard a child’s laughter, followed by a funny scream.    
  
“Oh, no,” Magnus said under his nose, “Charlie,” he tried to catch the dog by taking him in his arms and avoid everything that followed it.    
  
Magnus started to run after the animal but he knew the adrenaline started to build in it.    
  


Magnus saw a kid and a tall man playing in the sand, the man was chasing the girl, Magnus noticed as he got closer to them, and the kid screamed as the waves hit her feet.    
  
“Charlie! Stop!” Magnus cried out.    
  
He saw the man lift his head, looking at Magnus then at Charlie running toward them.   
  
The dark haired man crouched next to the girl, Magnus realized that he was about to pick the girl up in his arms to protect her. Natural reaction from a dad, Magnus thought.    
  


Then Magnus’ eyes caught the sight of a sandcastle and he immediately realized that the sculpture was in Charlie’s way and it was inevitable for the dog to destroy it.    
  
“Charlie! Stop! Now!”

 

***

 

Alec wasn’t a Baywatch fan, he was gay and had never had crush on David Hasselhoff but he had definitely had such a crush on Troy Bolton back in 2006, that he had needed to watch the movie based on the series last year.    
  
He definitely wasn’t weak in the knees when he saw a man with well-shaped abs, muscular arms, and legs clad in white—not red, definitely not Baywatch—running towards them. 

The dog was forgotten and Alec’s mind short-circuited, watching the man whose body couldn’t be compared to a Greek God, running in slow motion—well, that was Alec’s mind playing tricks. He was running fast, to be honest—to catch the animal.    
  
Alec heard him calling the dog by its name, trying to make the animal stop. Unsuccessfully.   
  
Alec’s jaw fell off when the white furred dog ran across the sandcastle which collapsed immediately. Alec heard Chloe’s surprised gasp and then the girl started to cry, Alec tightened his arms around his niece.   
  
The dog was by their side the next moment, licking the girl’s feet, its tail frisking from excitement.   
  
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” the owner of the dog was there in a couple of seconds, breathing heavily.    
  
Alec was watching Chloe, pulling her head against his shoulder, trying to calm her down, ignoring the dog and its owner next to them.    
  
“Charles, come here!” The man raised his voice but the dog didn’t obey, starting to lick Chloe’s hand instead.    
  
Chloe chuckled and her sobbing started to mix with giggles.    
  
“Are you okay?” Alec whispered, pulling away, loosening the hold around the girl to look at her. Chloe didn’t answer, she just looked at the sandcastle, Alec followed suit.    
  
Only a pile of sand remained from the castle they had built.   
  
“I’m so sorry, Charlie gets way too excited when he hears kids screaming,” the man said and Alec let Chloe go when he felt the girl was about crouch down to caress the dog, still crying lightly, though.    
  
“He is cute,” Chloe said between sobs and giggles—Alec couldn’t tell.   
  
“He is,” the man agreed and Alec looked up at him, meeting the other man’s eyes.    
  
He quickly turned his head to look at Chloe.   
  
“I’m so—“ the man started.   
  
“Don’t say sorry again,” Alec cut him off without looking at him, “I’m gonna rebuild it,” Alec waved him away and stood up to get the bucket and the small shovel, trying to show how hurt he was about the damage.    
  
“I’ll help,” the man said and tossed the leash on the sand.   
  
“No need,” Alec said, looking at Chloe who didn’t seem that sad about the sandcastle.    
  
He turned his head back to the man, seeing him staring at Chloe and the dog as they started to become friends.   
  
Alec let his eyes wander up and down on the other man’s naked upper body, feeling totally doomed as he admired how the sun glowed on his caramel skin.    
  
Loud giggling brought Alec back to reality, and he tried to push aside every naughty thought of the man in front of him.    
  
Alec sat down and started to fill the bucket with sand.   
  
“Let me help, that’s the least I can do,” the man said and sat across the pile of sand, starting to collect the shells from the sand.    
  
“Okay,” Alec answered, glancing at his niece who was playing with the dog, “but it seems the sandcastle is already forgotten,” he added, hearing the man’s chuckle.    
  
“Charlie is a good distraction, so when it’s done, it will seem the damage had never happened,” the man said, showing a smile that made Alec weak in the knees—thank God he was already sitting—and he  managed to give him a nod and a smile which he hoped didn’t seemed too forced. He was kind of thankful that he could spend some time with the handsome man. How was he going to survive it? Well that was another question...   
  


***

Magnus kept collecting the shells from the sand, glancing at the man in front of him, then at his dog and the girl who were playing together, running in the water and then back, hearing the kid’s laughter when Charlie shook his body, making his fur less wet. 

  
He saw the man building sand towers and he felt so helpless, not knowing what to do or what to say to loosen the tension which still filled the hot air around them.    
  
“What’s her name?” Magnus asked eventually, seeing the man with messy dark hair looking at him suddenly.   
  
“Her name is Chloe,” he answered, his eyes locked on Magnus and he could see his irises which were a mixture of brown and green.    
  
Those beautiful hazel eyes. Magnus needed to look away if he didn’t want to get lost in them.    
  
“I’m Alec,” the man added, continuing his task, filling another bucket and Magnus smiled that he introduced himself willingly and Magnus didn’t have to ask his name.

  
“Nice to meet you, Alec,” he said softly, “I’m Magnus,” he introduced himself as well and started to sort the shells by size.    
  
He saw, from the corner of his eye, that the man had stopped, his hand holding the shovel in the air, halfway to the bucket.   
  
“M-Magnus... Bane?” He heard the other man ask and Magnus had no clue how he could know his name. Well... it wasn’t that popular and he had met many people along the way but he was hundred percent sure he would remember the man in front of him if they had ever met.    
  
He lifted his head to look at... Alec... ‘the’ Alec... who was already staring at him with a wide grin on his face.    
  
Magnus started to laugh immediately when everything clicked in his head, shaking it lightly.   
  
“Alec Lightwood, I presume,” he said between his laughs, seeing the other man nodding.    
  
“What were the odds, Magnus?” Alec asked and the grin grew wider on his face.   
  
“How long has it been, Alexander?” He asked. Alec looked down at the bucket and Magnus wasn’t sure but he might saw him blush—well he wouldn’t blame him.   
  
“Six months or so,” Alec answered without looking at Magnus, “but the question is rather ‘how many?’, Magnus,” Alec added and Magnus bit on his lower lip, trying to hide his smirk.    
  
“If I round it down, I’d say seventeen thousand,” Magnus bit his lower lip again, waiting for Alec to look at him.    
  
“Tremendous,” Alec said, smile disappearing suddenly and his face seemed serious and somehow shocked this time. Magnus could tell from his expression what the other man was thinking about—well, he had a guess…

  
Then Alec opened his mouth to start speaking but Magnus cut him off before he could say anything.   
  
“This is not what you think, I swear,” Magnus said.   
  
“You didn’t care it was 3 a.m., how would I know?” Alec asked and looked at Chloe and Charlie before turning back to Magnus with a frown.   
  
“Time difference,” Magnus answered.   
  
“You are in New York too,” Alec said and Magnus saw he needed to make efforts not to smile.   
  
“By way of an excuse, I was in LA then, Alexander,” Magnus lifted his index up, “but I’m not that desperate, I wouldn’t ruin your daughter’s sandcastle,” Magnus explained and looked at the girl and the dog.    
  
Alec having a daughter explained so much, Magnus could understand now.

 

***

 

Alec was staring at Magnus, trying to process what was happening.   
  
Six months, and 17,000 or so...   
  
Idris Jewelry started its Spring campaign six months ago, Alec clearly remembered that day even though it had started as ordinary just like any other; but it had somehow ended in a very different way. And he had had no idea how it was going to affect his life.   
  
What were the odds that he was going to meet ‘the’ Magnus Bane, out of New York, during his holiday? Knowing himself, they were very low... but ‘knowing’ Magnus... they were kind of high—according to what had happened in the past six months—and somehow it freaked Alec out.    
  
“I rented a house nearby to celebrate my friend’s birthday, Alexander,” Magnus said when Alec didn’t answer for so long. For some reason, he didn’t feel like telling Magnus that Chloe wasn’t his daughter, not yet.   
  
Nevertheless, Magnus calling him by his full name somehow made him shiver in a very different way, having a different effect on him to what he was used to before, albeit in a very different context.   
  
“I’m really not here because of ‘that’...” Magnus trailed off.   
  
“You said you never give up and me playing hard to get made you love the challenge even more,” Alec explained and he saw Magnus’ eyes going to his lip when Alec pronounced the word love on an unfaltering voice.    
  
“True, tho,” Magnus looked down at the shells on his palm, “if I say that had I known I was gonna meet you here I would have planned it otherwise, would you believe that?” Magnus asked, looking at Alec from under lowered lashes.   
  
“Yeah, with your statistics,” Alec stated, making Magnus laugh, throwing his head back. Alec’s eyes wandered to his neck and down to his Adam’s Apple. He swallowed as he looked away, he didn’t want to show Magnus how much his presence affected him.   
  
“I know you wouldn’t care about my statistics and now I see my other plan wouldn’t have worked as well,” Magnus looked at Chloe and the dog.   
  
Alec clearly knew what the other plan Magnus talked about was. Though he would have given in if he had known Magnus ‘was’ Magnus.    
  
Either way, Magnus would have won and he didn’t want that. He kind of liked what had been going on between them for six months now, he liked that it had some mystery, some longing, something that made it all so special.    
  
“You really counted them?” Alec asked and occupied himself with making another sand tower.    
  
“You dared me to do it,” Magnus said in a lower voice.    
  
“I did,” Alec agreed.    
  
“I can’t believe we just actually met,” Magnus laughed again.   
  
“I guess it doesn’t change anything,” Alec said and looked at Magnus without lifting his head up.   
  
“It changes everything, Alexander,” Magnus said and Alec sensed some disappointment in his voice. He wasn’t sure. He had never seen him and had never heard his voice before. And truth be told, he didn’t know Magnus, although he had been a main part of his life for six months and 17,000 emails now.

 

***

 

Magnus’ eyes followed Alec’s hand as he rebuilt the sandcastle. He tried to catch up with him and actually make himself useful.   
  
“Quite the appointment, I might add,” Magnus said under his nose.   
  
“I’m on holiday,” Alec commented without looking at him.   
  
“I know, I received your automatic response,” Magnus didn’t stop watching Alec.    
  
He had planned how he was going to meet him many times and this... well this was far from it.   
  
Damn, he didn’t have any makeup on, his hair was a mess. The only presentable thing was his Ray Bans on the top of his head.   
  
Not that it would have mattered anymore.   
  
It had all started when Catarina had  rushed into his office and had announced that Idris Jewelry was looking for a new advertising agency.    
  
Idris Jewelry dominated the country’s jewelry market.    
  
So Magnus had figured out that if Pandemonium Advertising Agency could represent Idris it would mean his ad agency would basically represent the entire industry. That would mean a huge hit for his firm. He had wanted to move onto git aggressively and so he had done exactly that.   
  
However, he never thought that the head of the IJ marketing department—also known as Mr. Alec Lightwood—was going to be the reason for his agency to be stuck halfway on the road to huge success.   
  
It had started with businesslike emails but then, after a couple of refusals Magnus had had to switch strategy.   
  
He didn’t know when the emails had turned into something which were anything but business related anymore. Magnus knew how Alec drank his coffee and how he never had lunch breaks—well, he did but he spent most of that time in the gym instead—and Magnus had shared his favorite client was ‘Shadowhunters’, the fastest growing magazine for men and many other things except anything related to their personal lives. That, had somehow always been taboo, they had never touched the subject and Magnus’ flirtatious emails had always had their limits; he had known when to stop.    
  


That certain email at 3 am had been the only exception and he’d had a business trip to LA and had had more martinis than he should have after the conference and had asked Alec out that night.    
  


So, if Pandemonium wasn’t going to be the ace for Idris then Alec owed Magnus a date as compensation for his efforts. Alec had never really answered that email.

 

***

 

Alec really couldn’t come up with any reasonable excuse why he hadn’t given a chance to Magnus—or rather to his company—and had set up an appointment with him before.    
  
There was that email—still saved in Alec’s inbox—Magnus had sent him one day which he had re read more times than he intended to but it had just touched him and he hadn’t known whether it had been Magnus’ professionalism in the business or the man was just that passionate in real life. Either way, Alec would have given a green card to Pandemonium...   
  
Albeit, Idris had accepted the Clave agency’s offer to make the pitch—which had already been settled without his knowledge and approval though and Alec hadn’t wanted to go into a disagreement with his boss, Jia Penhallow because of her friendship with the Clave owner, Imogen Herondale who’s had some influence over the decision—, Alec had thought there had been no reason to meet with Magnus anymore.    
  
After Alec had let Magnus know about the deal, he would’ve never imagined that they’d keep emailing. Magnus had started to aim for the Fall campaign but Alec hadn’t known if Idris was going to see a new ad agency for the next season, it all depended on the Spring campaign’s statistics, billings and many other indicators and even Alec couldn’t see the future.   
  
Emailing with Magnus was part of his days like brushing his teeth and was as simple as the sun rose in the morning and set in the evening.   
  
Izzy had always teased Alec that he kind of had an online marriage with the owner of the agency except they had never seen and talked to each other and they didn’t have scheduled online sex. Alec had never thought about it in that way.   
  
They’d known one another’s phone numbers since the both of them had it in the signature area at the bottom of their emails—as well as Alec had the rainbow flag there since his boss’s daughter, Aline came out last year and the whole company had become more accepting of the LGBT community—but they had never called each other.   
  
Emailing was a safe place, it had given Alec time to think through what he was going to reply and he was thankful that Magnus had never called him.   
  
Alec liked it that way. The whole emailing thing had its own charm, and mystery which made it exciting.   
  
Sometimes he had found himself thinking about what Magnus could have been doing... Did he oversleep when he didn’t get a reply at 7.30am for his email at 6am which had been his response to Magnus’ late night email? Did Magnus’ favorite barista serve him in the morning? Silly things, Alec knew it and he found himself ridiculous when he realized that Magnus somehow became a part of his life.    
He liked the ideal to—sort of—have Magnus... it was just nice.   
  
And now, Magnus was sitting across a sandcastle and the only thing Alec needed to do to brush that strand of hair from Magnus’ face while he decorated the castle was to reach his hand out. But he just couldn’t.   
  
“She’s my niece,” Alec confessed in a low voice and looked at Chloe who made Charlie’s paw prints into the sand, “my sister’s daughter,” he added, still avoiding Magnus’ eyes.    
  
“Well, you didn’t deny or confirm it before,” Alec heard Magnus say, “I guess I’ll get replies for my unanswered questions, sooner or later” Magnus sighed and Alec turned his head to him now, seeing him smiling.    
  
Alec didn’t comment on that, only returned the smile before he looked back at Chloe, “hey, Chloe, can you bring some water over here!” he called out, “then you should drink some lemonade.”   
  
Alec watched the girl sink the bucket into the water and carry it towards them, “Alec, did you send some photos of Charlie and me to mommy?” She asked on her way, looking at the dog who sat on his owner’s lap.   
  
Alec’s eyes darted to Magnus’ face, “if his owner lets me take a picture then I will,” he said, eyes never leaving Magnus.   
  
“You want to show your mommy who ruined your sandcastle?” Magnus asked with a wide grin on his face.   
  
Alec turned to look at Chloe, noticing the realization on her face, her expression was priceless when she saw the rebuilt sandcastle. Alec couldn’t help but smile.    
  
“It’s better than the one before” she stated and Alec didn’t know how to feel about it.    
  
“Don’t worry, Alexander,” Magnus said and Alec’s heart hitched when Magnus said his full name, “the other one was amazing too” Magnus bit on his lower lip.   
  
“Not that you had a chance to see it,” he said, trying to sound offended—he knew he failed—and got on his feet to get the drinks from the bag.


End file.
